The hook
The grassy valley that was the cradle of steppe empires and the site of Genghis Khan's capital, where a walled monastery built from the ruins of that lost city stands amid endless rolling grassland.
01Why it's worth it
The Orkhon Valley has been the heartland of nomadic power on the steppe for two thousand years, and it was here that Genghis Khan's son built Karakorum, the capital of the Mongol Empire that once stretched from Korea to Hungary. The city itself is almost entirely gone, but from its stones rose Erdene Zuu, the country's oldest surviving Buddhist monastery, a large compound ringed by a wall of over a hundred stupas out on the open plain. Around it, the valley is classic Mongolia: sweeping green grassland grazed by horses and herds, felt gers, waterfalls, and hot springs, with families living much as their ancestors did. Staying in a ger camp, riding horses, and sharing a herder's hospitality here gives a deeper sense of nomadic culture than any museum. It is the historical and cultural counterweight to the Gobi's emptiness.
02How to experience it
Travel out by road to Kharkhorin for the Erdene Zuu monastery and the scant traces of the imperial capital, then spend time in the valley itself, staying with a nomad family or in a ger camp, riding horses across the steppe. Time it for the July Naadam festival of wrestling, archery, and horse racing if you can.